The Boston Red Sox’s bullpen took a hit Wednesday when it was announced Steven Wright was suspended 80 games after he tested positive for the performance-enhancing substance Growth Hormone Releasing Peptide 2 (GHRP-2).
Wright was rehabbing for a comeback season after undergoing cartilage restoration knee surgery in 2017. He initially made Boston’s postseason roster in October, but his knee flared up and caused him to be removed for the remainder of the team’s World Series run. Wright will not be eligible for the postseason if the Red Sox qualify.
The knuckleballer said he appealed the suspension but realizes the “burden is completely on me.”
Sox manager Alex Cora has yet to name a closer after it was announced it was “extremely unlikely” Craig Kimbrel would be re-signed. While Wright likely wasn’t in the running to be the ninth-inning guy, it certainly shakes things up for the first 80 games without him in the fold.
But Cora doesn’t see Wright’s suspension changing too many things about how the team approaches its relief pitchers as it prepares for Opening Day.
“I think you guys had a pretty good idea that he was behind where we’re at,” Cora said, via The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier. “So honestly, not too much changes, especially early in the first half of the season.”
The bullpen still features Brian Johnson, Ryan Brasier, Heath Hembree and Matt Barnes, to name a few. So while losing Wright for the first half of the season isn’t ideal, it certainly sounds as if Cora has a plan moving forward.
